We needed a quick camping trip recently so we decided to check out a campground we have driven by a few times on our way to other adventures. The Monarch Spur RV Park is located between Salida, CO and Monarch Pass. They are open year round so if you are a skier that likes to stay at campgrounds, you can stay here when you visit Monarch Ski Resort. You have to watch carefully for the turn off for the campground, but they have a nice big sign right at their driveway. Their location is perfect if you are wanting a central base camp for exploring the Salida, Bueña Vista and Monarch areas. The campground is also easy to get in and out of from the highway.

First impressions driving into the campground are great. The signs are easy to read, the office is well marked and there is a carved bear waving at you. How can you not be impressed by a carved bear greeting you? I also loved the "whoa" sign designating where you are supposed to stop to check in. The office is also a little store with some snacks, really pretty jewelry, some cute t-shirts and other supplies you might need. The owners are very nice and helpful and the people working for them are equally helpful and nice. You can tell they take pride in their property and their business. Both the paved and dirt roads are well maintained, the buildings are all clean and well maintained and the campsites are clean. Their pricing is also very good.

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to campgrounds, is when they try cramming as many sites onto the property as possible and you feel like you are parked in an RV storage lot instead of in a campground. The Monarch Spur RV Park site spacing is a little close, but there is enough space you can walk around your RV and not feel like you're in the middle of your neighbor's campsite. The sites are nice and long so you can comfortably park your RV and your tow or towed vehicle without having to get creative with your parking. Each site also has a picnic table and fire pit.

The tent sites are nice and secluded and very well maintained. I kind of wish we could have taken our camper back into one of the tent sites because they were so nice. We would have been okay boon-docking. The tent sites are located along the river which also means they are closer to the highway noise. I think the river cancels out the highway noise enough you can't hear the traffic too much. There are also some cabins on the property you could rent. When we were walking around exploring, we came up on the backside of the cabins instead of the front. From what we could see, the cabins are cute and also well maintained.

We didn't have our official playground testers with us, but I think they could have burned off some energy in the little playground area that was also near the horseshoe pit area.

The Chip N' Dale Saloon is a cute area with BBQ grills and tables where you can hang out with a group of people or just sit and watch the birds and chipmunks play. If you like to bird watch, there are a lot of different ones to watching including hummingbirds.

The bathrooms and laundry area are in a building that is pretty centrally located, but a little far away from the tent sites. The building is clean inside and out.

The campground is beautiful this time of year, but I'm sure when fall really starts to show up in a few weeks, the views will be amazing! We didn't fish the river while we stayed there, but we did see fish swimming in it near one of the tent sites.